Rachael Gunn has launched a new career as a ‘speaker, host and conversation starter’ just after the news broke that she’d lost her taxpayer-funded job at Sydney’s Macquarie University.
‘Raygun’ recently accepted a voluntary redundancy from the university, where she enrolled to study at 18 years of age before going on to become a lecturer in media and cultural studies.
Gunn, who has a bachelor of arts with honours and a PhD in cultural studies, was one of the academics who lost out due to cost-cutting in the university’s arts department, and said she left because she could see the ‘writing on the wall’.
The 38-year-old – who went viral all over the world when she failed to score a point with her breakdancing routine at the 2024 Paris Olympics – broke her silence on the development to share her worries about her former co-workers and the state of education in Australia.
‘We need to have a serious conversation about higher education in this country,’ Gunn told the Sydney Morning Herald.
‘I’m very worried for my colleagues. I don’t think that things are getting better for them.’
Rachael Gunn (pictured at the 2024 Olympics) has spoken out about losing her university job after taking a voluntary redundancy
Raygun released her official website (pictured) just after the news of her job loss broke on Wednesday
The breakdancer can be booked for speaking engagements, brand collaborations and workshops
Gunn’s official website went live just hours after news of her job loss broke on Wednesday.
On it, she describes herself as a ‘speaker, host, conversation starter’ who is available for events, brand collaborations and interviews.
‘Planning an event, workshop or collaboration? Rachael is available in-person or virtually, across Australia and internationally,’ the site states.
She also details some of the non-university work she’s been doing, including appearing at an education fundraiser, being a keynote speaker at an International Women’s Day function, a backyard cricket fundraiser for Lifeline, and performing at a Tones And I concert.
Macquarie University has not commented on Raygun’s situation, but her staff profile has been deleted from the institution’s website.
Gunn completed the thesis for her PhD on the gender politics of Sydney’s breakdancing culture in 2017.
Many Aussies were left fuming when they discovered she received taxpayer funding to study the dance form.
Queensland Senator Gerard Rennick quoted Raygun’s official Macquarie University profile in a Facebook post after she went viral and wrote, ‘In the same way breakdancing doesn’t belong in the Olympics it’s fair to say taxpayers shouldn’t be subsidising Universities to study or teach it.’
Gunn shot to worldwide fame with her routine at the Paris Games (pictured)
The 38-year-old (pictured with Richard Branson) has voiced her concerns about education in Australia after departing the university, which had been part of her life for 20 years
Gunn has written publications including ‘Nocturnal Paradox: How Breakdancing Reveals the Potentials of the Night’
Senator Rennick’s post attracted thousands of comments slamming the university – and other tertiary institutions – for wasting taxpayer money on frivolous studies.
While Gunn’s specifics had not been made public at the time, PhD students like the breakdancer can get up to $56,000 a year in tax-free government funding.
That includes living stipends of up to $35,000 a year, plus an additional top-up scholarship of approximately $21,000 a year.
Fortunately for ‘Raygun’ – whose publications on breaking include ‘Nocturnal Paradox: How Breakdancing Reveals the Potentials of the Night’ – she started developing another new income stream earlier this year.
She is now charging her fans $68.24 for a personalised clip on the Cameo video platform.
Raygun joined Cameo on March 2 and promised her personalised videos would be ‘unforgettable’.
‘You’ll have the chance to customise your request for Raygun, like asking them to mention inside jokes, share words of wisdom, or work in their signature catchphrases,’ her page reads.
‘Don’t be afraid to get creative with your request, especially for celebrations like weddings, retirements, or bachelor and bachelorette parties that call for a good laugh.
‘No matter the occasion, the video will be yours to keep, share the fun and relive the moment for years to come.’
In September 2024, Raygun was ranked by the World DanceSport Federation as the world’s number one breakdancer.
In November 2024, she announced she was retiring from competitive breakdancing after receiving overwhelming global criticism for her performance at the Olympics.
